Kaban Workflow

Persistent Kanban board for AI agent coordination. Tasks survive sessions and sync with TodoWrite.

Core principle: TodoWrite for session visibility, Kaban for persistence.

When to Activate

• Multi-step features (3+ tasks)
• User says "plan", "track", "board", "kanban"
• Session start with existing board
• Delegating to sub-agents

Not for: Single tasks, pure research, throwaway work.

Availability

MCP Tools (Preferred)

kaban_status                      - board status
kaban_list_tasks(assignee?)       - list tasks (filter by assignee)
kaban_add_task                    - add task
kaban_update_task(assignedTo?)    - update task / assign
kaban_move_task                   - move between columns
kaban_complete_task               - mark done

CLI Fallback

which kaban                        # check installation
kaban status                       # board status
kaban list                         # list tasks
kaban list --assignee <agent>      # list MY tasks
kaban add "title"                  # add task
kaban assign <id> <agent>          # assign task to agent
kaban move <id> <col> --assign     # move and claim task
kaban done <id>                    # complete task

Install: npm i -g @kaban-board/cli or brew install beshkenadze/tap/kaban

Never Do

• Check .kaban/board.db directly
• Run source code (bun run, npx ts-node)

Task Sync

Action	TodoWrite	Kaban
Create	todowrite	kaban_add_task
Assign	-	kaban assign <id> <agent>
Start	status: in_progress	kaban move <id> in-progress --assign
Complete	status: completed	kaban_complete_task

Always mirror changes to both systems.

Session Start

1. kaban_status (or kaban status)
   ├─ No board → proceed normally
   └─ Board exists → check in-progress tasks
      └─ Ask: "Resume [task]?"

Sub-Agent Delegation

1. kaban assign <id> <agent-name>   # Assign task to sub-agent
2. Task tool prompt includes:
   - Kaban task ID
   - Agent name for --assignee filter
3. Sub-agent workflow:
   - kaban list --assignee <agent-name>  # See MY tasks
   - kaban move <id> in-progress --assign <agent-name>
   - kaban done <id>                     # When complete

Columns

Column	WIP Limit
Backlog	-
To Do	-
In Progress	3
Done	-

Labels

Type	Examples
Type	bug, feature, refactor
Priority	p0, p1, p2, p3
Domain	frontend, backend, infra

Quick Reference

CLI Commands

Command	Description
kaban init	Initialize board
kaban status	Board summary
kaban add "title"	Add task
kaban list	List tasks
kaban list --assignee <agent>	List agent's tasks
kaban assign <id> <agent>	Assign task
kaban assign <id> --clear	Unassign task
kaban move <id> <col>	Move task
kaban move <id> <col> -A [agent]	Move and assign
kaban done <id>	Complete task
kaban archive	Archive done tasks
kaban restore <id>	Restore from archive

MCP Tools

Tool	Key Parameters
kaban_add_task	title, column?, labels?
kaban_move_task	id, column
kaban_update_task	id, assignedTo?, labels?
kaban_complete_task	id
kaban_list_tasks	columnId?, assignee?, blocked?
kaban_status	-
kaban_archive_tasks	-
kaban_restore_task	id

Rules

1. Always sync TodoWrite ↔ Kaban
2. Include task ID when delegating
3. Respect WIP limits (ask before forcing)
4. Use CLI or MCP tools only (never direct DB access)